Process Temperature Sensors Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Filing has cooled from its 2019 peak. 251 records that year against 23 so far in the most recent (partial) year, with the last complete three-year span down 42% from 2021 to 2024.
- No single filer dominates. The leader holds 117 records and the top 5 combined account for just 16.5% of all 2,868 records in scope — this is a long-tail field, not a concentrated one.
- Temperature measurement overlaps heavily with diagnosis and surgery. G01K (23.0%) and A61B (19.7%) are the two largest classes, pointing to a strong crossover between industrial RTD/thermocouple design and body-worn sensing.
Filing growth compares 2021 (179 records) with 2024 (104) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 2,868 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this dataset covers
This landscape covers 2,868 published patent records filed or published between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine industrial temperature-sensing hardware terms — resistance temperature detectors, thermocouple assemblies, sheath materials, thermowell design — with performance and reliability concepts such as response time, insulation resistance, drift under high temperature, and in-situ calibration. The scope is deliberately narrow to the intersection of sensor construction and process-grade performance claims, rather than temperature sensing in general.
Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any trend understates real activity. The 2024 figures are the last that can be read as a complete filing year; 2025 and 2026 will continue to fill in as records publish.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 2,868-record dataset: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
A 2019 peak, then a step down
Filings ran from 172 in 2017 to a peak of 251 in 2019, then declined; the last complete three-year comparison shows 179 records in 2021 falling to 104 in 2024, a 42% drop. Readers should not extend that decline into 2025-2026 — those years are still publishing.
Sensor hardware meets medical devices
G01K (temperature measurement) leads at 23.0% of records, closely trailed by A61B (diagnosis and surgery) at 19.7% and A61M (devices for body fluids) at 9.0%. G01N (material analysis and testing) and H05B (electric heating circuits) each sit in the 5-12% band, showing that process-grade thermal sensing claims frequently sit alongside medical and material-testing filings rather than in isolation.
Shares are the percentage of the 2,868 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Process Temperature Sensors with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about process temperature sensors and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records in this dataset
US3759083A — Sensing element response time measuring system
A resistance temperature detector, configured as one arm of a bridge circuit, is heated by a current separate from the bridge exciting current to a temperature above its environment. The time required for the RTD to cool through a predetermined temperature range once the heating current is removed is measured to determine the sensor's response time.Filed 1973 by an agency of the US government — establishes response-time measurement via self-heating and cooling as a foundational technique still referenced in the field.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US7187960B2 | Apparatus and method for measuring biologic parameters | 1,331 |
| 2 | US6798341B1 | Network based multiple sensor and control device with temperature sensing and control | 627 |
| 3 | US20050043907A1 | Network based multiple sensor and control device with temperature sensing and control | 543 |
| 4 | US20090105605A1 | Apparatus and method for measuring biologic parameters | 530 |
| 5 | US20070258506A1 | Temperature sensors and methods of manufacture thereof | 526 |
| 6 | US4749416A | Immersion pyrometer with protective structure for sidewall use | 518 |
| 7 | US4217463A | Fast responsive, high pressure thermocouple | 504 |
| 8 | US5158128A | Thermocouple for a continuous casting machine | 500 |
| 9 | US6296711B1 | Film processing system | 499 |
| 10 | US20060275933A1 | Thermally conductive ceramic tipped contact thermocouple | 493 |
Citation counts reflect influence within this searched corpus and skew toward older filings; they are not a measure of current commercial importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →What the data means for filing strategy
Three patterns stand out once concentration, timing and class overlap are read together.
Leadership is real but not dominant
The leading assignee holds 117 records and the top 5 combined reach 474, or 16.5% of all 2,868 records in scope. Tenth place holds 54. That gap between the leader and the rest suggests a field where an established base of prior art exists but no single company can block a well-drafted claim across the whole space.
Activity has stepped down from its 2019 peak
Filings peaked at 251 in 2019 and the last complete comparison, 2021 to 2024, shows a 42% decline (179 to 104). Because publication lags filing by about 18 months, the 2025-2026 figures will rise as they fill in — the honest reading is a cooling field, not a stalled one.
Industrial and medical sensing claims overlap
G01K (temperature measurement) and A61B (diagnosis and surgery) are the two largest classes in the dataset, with A61M and A61N also present in the 3-9% range. That overlap reflects shared RTD and thermocouple hardware between process instrumentation and wearable or implantable diagnostic sensors.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to process temperature sensors, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| Baxter International Inc | Baxter Healthcare SA | 76 |
| Baxter International Inc | CHILDERS ROBERT | 13 |
| Baxter Healthcare SA | CHILDERS ROBERT | 13 |
| Baxter International Inc | HOPPING PETER | 8 |
| Baxter Healthcare SA | HOPPING PETER | 8 |
| Abbott Diabetes Care Inc | HAYTER GARY | 6 |
| Watlow Electric Manufacturing Co | STEINHAUSER LOUIS P | 2 |
| Watlow Electric Manufacturing Co | PTASIENSKI KEVIN | 2 |
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in this dataset, and the strongest pairing is concentrated between two related corporate entities plus a named inventor — collaboration filing is rare in this space compared with single-assignee filing.
Who is filing, and where momentum has gone
The ranked leaders span industrial instrumentation makers and medical device companies, reflecting the G01K/A61B overlap seen in the technology composition. Recent-year momentum, however, is flat or negative across the assignees tracked here.
The top-ranked assignee sets the pace but does not dominate
At 117 records, the leading assignee sits well ahead of fifth place (80) and tenth place (54), but even combined the top 5 account for only 16.5% of all 2,868 records — leaving substantial room for challengers.
Recent-year filing has slowed across the board
Several of the assignees tracked for year-over-year momentum show zero filings in the latest year, and one shows a 67% year-over-year decline. This should be read alongside the 18-month publication lag rather than as firms exiting the space outright.
Filing is mostly solo, not joint
Only 10 co-assignee pairs exist across the dataset, and the strongest is concentrated within one corporate family plus a named inventor. New entrants looking for partnership precedent will find little to draw on here.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Biolinq Inc | 2 | -67% |
| Watlow Electric Manufacturing Co | 0 | -100% |
| Fractyl Health Inc | 0 | -100% |
| Circuit Therapeutics Inc | 0 | — |
| Baxter International Inc | 0 | — |
| Baxter Healthcare SA | 0 | — |
| Eaton Cummins Automated Transmission Technologies LLC | 0 | -100% |
| Endress+Hauser GmbH & Co KG | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a field with a step-down in filing activity, a long tail of assignees, and cross-domain overlap with medical devices. The next step depends on what decision is in front of you.
Map the white space before filing
Under-claimed branches such as in-situ calibration correction and corrosive-fluid sheath materials sit next to dense core claims on RTD and thermocouple assemblies. A freedom-to-operate check against the ranked leaders' portfolios is the first move before drafting.
Explore white space in EurekaWatch the medical/industrial crossover
The overlap between G01K and A61B classes suggests sensor hardware originally built for process instrumentation is migrating into diagnostic and body-worn devices. Tracking assignees active in both classes gives an early read on where that crossover is heading.
Track crossover filers in EurekaCommon questions about process temperature sensor patents
This dataset contains 2,868 published patent records filed or published between 2015 and mid-2026 that match industrial temperature-sensing hardware terms combined with performance criteria like response time and insulation resistance. The true figure for the broader field is larger, since this scope excludes general temperature sensing without a process-performance angle. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years are still under-counted.
The ranking covers 100 companies, with the leader holding 117 records and the top 5 combined accounting for 16.5% of all 2,868 records in scope. That is a meaningful lead but not a dominant one — the field has a long tail of assignees rather than a small handful of gatekeepers. Both industrial instrumentation makers and medical device companies appear among the ranked leaders, reflecting the overlap between temperature measurement and diagnostic device classes.
Filing peaked at 251 records in 2019 and the last complete three-year comparison, 2021 to 2024, shows a 42% decline from 179 to 104 records. That reads as a genuine cooling rather than a data artefact, since 2021-2024 are all complete years. Figures for 2025 and 2026 will rise as publications catch up, so it is too early to call the field in continued decline based on those years alone.
G01K (temperature measurement) is the largest class at 23.0% of records, followed closely by A61B (diagnosis and surgery) at 19.7%. A61M (devices for body fluids), G01N (material analysis and testing) and H05B (electric heating circuits) each account for a further 4-12% of records. This pattern shows that RTD and thermocouple hardware developed for industrial process control is frequently repurposed or co-claimed in medical diagnostic and material-testing contexts.
Sub-areas such as in-situ calibration drift correction, thermowell vibration and fatigue design, sheath materials for corrosive process fluids, and wireless or wearable RTD hybrid designs show thinner filing density than the core resistance-temperature-detector and thermocouple-assembly claims. That does not guarantee those branches are unclaimed, but it indicates less crowded prior art relative to the dataset's core. A freedom-to-operate search against the ranked leaders is still the right first step before committing to a filing strategy there.
Research Process Temperature Sensors in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole process temperature sensors corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.